Dickie Bird broke down in tears as he talked to Paul Hawksbee and Charlie Baker about the death of his ‘true friend’ Sir Michael Parkinson.
The famous television speaker and chat reveal host unfortunately died at the age of 88.
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BBC
Parkinson’s representative verified that the star passed away in harmony with his family at home in the business of his family on Wednesday night following a quick health problem.
Parkinson was popular for his chat program which aired more than 800 episodes as he spoke with famous figures consisting of Sir Elton John, Tom Cruise, Helen Mirren and George Michael.
He likewise spoke with a lot of sporting royalty with Muhammad Ali, David Beckham, George Best and Shane Warne all looking like visitors on his program.
And Parkinson’s friend of 8 years, famous cricket umpire Bird, talked to talkSPORT to share his memories and remember their poignant last discussion.
Speaking on Hawksbee & Jacobs, Bird said: “We understood each other for 80 years.
“I believe we worked it out, me and Parky, and it was 84 years that we were good friends and when I turned 90 he came all the method simply to see me on my 90th birthday and he wasn’t well, however he came which’s a real friend.
“He was an extremely friend. Our relationship, I can’t even inform you.
“I just talked to him the other day early morning and he said ‘mate, I think I’m getting towards completion’ and I said ‘keep your chin up, keep going’ however I might inform that he was ill and we said our farewells the other day early morning.
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“It’s stunned me. I’m so down, I’m gutted because we’ve known each other for so long and you talk about Muhammad Ali and Garfield Sobers, but Michael Parkinson was a true legend.”
Explaining how he understood him, Bird said: “He worked for our regional paper here in Barnsley, the Barnsley Chronicle and I’ve seen him increase.
“We opened together for Barnsley Cricket Club as young lads in the Yorkshire League and our dads utilized to enjoy us on a Saturday afternoon and they utilized to argue about who was the very best gamer out of me and Parky!
“He kept Geoffrey Boycott out of the Barnsley side for a couple of years, however he’s the very best chat program host that you might ever expect.
“He’s the very best, you’ll never ever see one as good in your life time or any person else’s life time. He was the very best and he was my closest friend. If I had any issues I’d sound Parky up.
“If anything turned up I’d get on the phone and ring him and when I composed my autobiography in 1996, all of the publishers around the globe desired my book and I sounded Parky up and asked who I must opt for.
“He said ‘I’ve got the one for you’, Hodder & Stoughton he said and my god he was right because it sold over a million copies in hardback and over a million copies in paperback, so that’s a true friend.”
Bird included: “I’m stunned. Honestly, I’ve got a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes and yesterday morning…” he said prior to rupturing into tears, “We spoke the other day early morning and shed a couple of tears.
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“He lived live to the full and we’d speak on the phone and he’d ask if I had any problems – that’s a true friend and my condolences go out to his wife Mary and his lad. I’ll certainly miss him, I’ll tell you that now.”
